Help from dictionary.

[Fwvo]

My question is that do the native English speakers also get help from a dictionary while reading books or they already now the meanings of difficult words? And do they also face difficulty in understanding philosophical writings?

[Piscean]

My question is: that does the native English speakers also get help from a dictionary while reading books or do they already know the meanings of difficult words? And do they also face difficulty in understanding philosophical writings?

I always have a dictionary to hand in case I need it. Philosophical writings are beyond my limited brain powers.

[Tarheel]

Nobody knows all the words, and we sometimes run across one we are unfamiliar with. That doesn't necessarily mean we consult a dictionary. Context is often sufficient on helping us understand a word or phrase.

[Piscean]

That doesn't necessarily mean we consult a dictionary. Context is often sufficient on helping us understand a word or phrase.

I agree.

If context does not make the meaning of a word moderately clear, I don't always look it up . For example, if I read in a novel that someone was wearing a blue coat, grey trousers, vermeric socks and black shoes, I probably would not look up vermeric - I am not particularly interested in clothes, fashion or obscure names of shades of colour. However, if the word vermeric appeared again soon, especially if it no longer seemed to be a colour, or if it seemed to be significant, I would feel compelled to consult a dictionary.

ps. Don't waste your time looking it up - vermeric does not exist. I used it as an example of a word that you (all of you) and I did not know.

[abaka]

I thought it was a spice ground up for use as a pigment by seventeenth-century Dutch painters?

[jutfrank]

And do they also face difficulty in understanding philosophical writings?

Yes, they do!

Sometimes this is because the language that the writer has used is hard to read, and sometimes it's because the ideas are hard to grasp, even when the language used is simple.

[emsr2d2]

I can't remember the last time I had to look up a word but that says more about the level of the books I read than it does about my vocabulary.

[Piscean]

I can't remember the last time I had to look up a word but that says more about the level of the books I read than it does about my vocabulary.

I remember that the last time I saw you, you were deeply engrossed in Noddy at the Seaside.

[emsr2d2]

Damn! I thought I'd managed to fool you by putting in the dust jacket of War and Peace!

[Piscean]

It was the thickness, or rather thinness, of the book that roused my suspicions. I sneaked a look inside the cover when you were putting Teddy to bed.